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$5 bills being bleached and turned into $50, police warn

Posted: Mar 11, 2011 12:01 PM EST
Updated: Mar 11, 2011 12:04 PM EST

ROCK HILL, SC - Authorities in Rock Hill say an operation in town is bleaching out $5 bills and making them into $50 bills – that have fooled at least one store recently.

Rock Hill police now want to talk to a woman who they say had one of the bills at two different stores.

But, a CVS had one fake bill passed already – by someone – and the dubious bill was only caught when the bank found it well after the "passer" had moved on, police said.

Apparently, the forging is fooling clerks because the bill paper includes security features that are staying in tact, police say.

The bleaching keeps the magnetic strip and the feel of the paper – along with some water markings, police say. The crooks then just reprint – using a good printer – the $50 over the bleached paper.

The first incident happened on March 1 at an Earth Fare on Cherry Road when someone tried to pass a fake bill – but police were not called until the next day, police said. In that incident, the clerk caught it and the woman took it back – claiming she got the money from Walgreens in change.

An incident happened on March 2 when another bill was caught – and kept – at Bi-Lo on Cherry Road. In that case the woman left the store, leaving the bill behind.

The clerk "caught" the bill by noticing the watermark was for a $5 bill.

Police say they only want to talk to the woman in photos they have released.